


The Slender Man

by PowerOfFunk



Category: Junjou Romantica
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Attempted Murder, Insane in the membrane, Kidnapping, M/M, Madness, Mental Health Issues, Murder, Not really a vampire he's just mad, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slash, Supernatural Elements, Unrequited Love, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-11 00:10:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7867219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PowerOfFunk/pseuds/PowerOfFunk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a serial killer on the loose, leaving a trail of bloodless corpses in his wake. Unfortunately for Hiroki, he also has a fondness for literature lecturers with pretty faces. Now Hiroki stay alive long enough to be rescued, all the while dealing with starvation and the violent madness of his captor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Hiroki woke up and looked over at the man next to him. He smiled slightly at Nowaki's sleeping face. Nowaki looked so sweet when he was asleep. He looked at the time. 7:00. Time to get up. He frowned slightly when he couldn't move, then realised that Nowaki's arms were still wrapped around him. He tugged a bit harder and the arms around him only got tighter.

Hiroki's frown deepened.

“OW!” Yelled Nowaki, clutching the brand new bump on his head, “Hiro-san?! Why did you do that?”

“Idiot!” Hiroki stood up and started getting dressed, “I need to get to work and you wouldn't let go of me!”

“I'm sorry Hiro-san you're just so adorable!”

Hiroki growled and left the room to go and make their breakfast.

He was just buttering the toast when Nowaki walked in, still not dressed. Hiroki couldn't help but stare at his tall handsome lover, dressed only in his boxers. Nowaki looked up and seemed to mistake Hiroki's surprise for disapproval.

“I'm sorry Hiro-san, I don't have to go into work today and I didn't want to waste time getting dressed before you left for work! I won't get to see Hiro-san for hours!”

“No! No- It's not a problem! I just thought you would be... erm... cold... without, any, clothes.” He could feel his face heating up.

Hiroki kept his head down, concentrating on the toast he was buttering and trying to cover his face with his hair. He didn't see the cunning smile spreading across Nowaki's face.

Nowaki drifted around behind Hiroki and wrapped his arms around the shorter man's waist. “Or could it be that Hiro-san likes me not getting dressed in the morning?” He bent his head down and kissed Hiroki's neck, who bent his head away to give him better access and forgot all about the toast.

A few seconds later he snapped out of it. “No! Nowaki I need to go, I'm going to be late! I made you breakfast.” He pulled himself away, grabbed his scarf, coat, and briefcase and made his way towards the door.

He swung the door open and was about to leave when he felt hands on his hip and wrist as he was swung around before he felt lips on his. He returned the kiss whole heartedly, before thwacking Nowaki on the head. “I'm going to be late dammit!”

Nowaki whispered “I love you Hiro-san,” before releasing him.

Hiroki left after that, but not before Nowaki heard a muttered, “I love you too.”

* * *

Nowaki couldn't keep the smile off his face for an hour after that. It wasn't often that Hiro-san confessed his love, but that only made it all the more special for Nowaki when he did. He didn't have to go into work today so he just turned on the morning news while he ate his breakfast. He wasn't really paying much attention though, he was too busy thinking about Hiro-san. Tonight he would probably get home late and be pretty tired, so Nowaki was going to cook him a delicious meal and then ravish him all night long. Then again, did they really need to bother with the meal...?

Suddenly something on the TV caught his attention. “-body has been found. The victim is a young female, however has not been identified yet. It is thought that it could be another victim of the supposed serial killer currently terrorising Tokyo. Though it hasn't been confirmed yet, the body has reportedly been mutilated in the same ways as the other recent victims. The police are still not confirming that there IS a serial killer, saying that the killings are too different. So far there have been twelve killings that could be connected to the possible serial killer, all within the last 3 months, and the only thing that has been the same In all the cases is that all the murders have been equally horrific-”

Nowaki frowned. This was awful, he hadn't heard much this recent string of murders but it definitely sounded like there was a serial killer on the loose, and a really terrible one at that. He couldn't imagine how the victim's families must feel right now, for their loved one to have died in such an awful way. If anything like that ever happened to Hiro-san he would die inside, and he didn't think that anything would ever be able to bring him back...

* * *

It had been such a long day for Hiroki. He had only had three classes thank god. Any more time than that with those morons would drive him insane. Unfortunately, he had so much marking to do that he had had to stay late 5 hours after his last class. Not that he would ever tell him this, but he wanted to get all his marking done so that he could spend more time with Nowaki on his days off this week, and there was no way that he could get all this work done with Nowaki at home.

Even more unfortunate, he was not the only one who had decided to stay late...

“Kamijou!!!”

'Oh God.' Thought Hiroki as arms draped around his neck and he smelt cigarette smoke next to his face. “Professor,” he growled, “please remove those arms before I remove them for you.”

“Oh Kamijou! You wound my aching heart!” He cried, but he released Hiroki. “I must leave now my love, Shinobu-chin has called me to tell me that he is making me a delicious cabbage stew. Please don't be sad!”

“Somehow I'll get over it,” Hiroki muttered, before giving a student a well-earned F. His frustration at Miyagi giving him particular pleasure as he drew it on in red.

“Farewell, my sweet assistant!” Miyagi yelled, so loudly that it shook Hiroki's eardrums. He was very glad that right now there was no-one else in this part of the university. He swore the only reason Miyagi had stayed late was to annoy him. He didn't think he had seen him grade single paper. Maybe he gave them all to Hiroki? He did have a lot...

Miyagi was gone. Hiroki hadn't even noticed him walk out the door. He looked at the time, 09:37. It was pretty late, and dark outside. He'd finish this last pile of papers then go home, he only had about five left to do.

He was just thinking about how awful these papers were when he felt someone grab him from behind, but not like Nowaki or Miyagi. His eyes went wide. There was an arm around his throat and he couldn't breathe.

His arms flew up and he tried desperately to pull the arms away, his fingers scrabbling at the sleeve but even when he got a grip on it the arm was too strong and he couldn't pull it away. The arm pulled him from his seat, knocking it over in the process. The man started dragging him backwards, and he was pretty sure it was a man, from the strength, and he could tell that they were at least a head taller than him.

His legs slipped out from under him before he was yanked back up again by the man, sending a jolt of pain through his neck. His oxygen was still cut off and his vision was starting to go blurry. His lungs felt like they were about to explode.

The last thing that he knew before everything went black was his assailant taking a deep breath and smelling his neck, and laughing maniacally.

The first thing he noticed, besides the pounding in his head, was that when he opened his eyes, everything was still black. Completely dark, not a single speck of light. The second thing was that he was cold. His coat was gone and it was a chilly room. The floor was also damp. The third thing he noticed, which was by far the most worrying, were the heavy metal cuffs around his wrists.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiroki begins to understand just how much trouble he's really in, and Nowaki starts to worry.

He tried to slip his hands out of the shackles but he couldn't. They were too tight, and they bit at his skin.

Suddenly he heard a noise coming from upstairs. Was he in a basement? There was a creak and a line of light spread through the room, illuminating the stairs that lead to the door. He saw his surroundings for the first time, it was just a cold normal basement, with a seemingly concrete floor, but he couldn't be sure, as it was covered in weird brown stains. There was a flash as something moved in front of the light, and a soft bumping as something big and heavy was thrown down the stairs. Hiroki's head flung around but he didn't catch what it was. The light was blocked again when he heard footsteps step inside onto the wooden stairs before the door closed again.

It was totally dark once more, and he couldn't see a thing.

Hiroki heard a faint moan from what he thought must be the base of the stairs, but he couldn't be sure. The footsteps moved down the stairs slowly, but purposefully. They were heavy, and the steps creaked under their weight. He heard the tap as whatever it was reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped on to the concrete. He heard a soft rustling as the object was dragged across the floor slowly, although it didn't sound as if the person was struggling with the weight at all.

Then he heard another moan, and another, and he realised: 'That was a person! Maybe they had been taken like he had?'

He was brought instantly from his thoughts as he heard a blood-curdling scream, just a few metres away from him. It was a woman. His hands flew to his ears but he couldn't drown out the sound. When he thought the screaming had stopped he removed his hands, and realised that it had actually just turned to gurgling, accompanied by a wet slurping sound. Hiroki was suddenly glad for the darkness, but it didn't stop the wet coppery smell from reaching him.

The slurping stopped and the footsteps started moving towards him. Terrified, he scrabbled back, trying to get away but they sped up and he felt a hand grab his hair and yank his head back. How had they known where he was? You couldn't see a thing in this darkness! Hiroki had no time to think about this however, as he felt a long, wet... tongue! This man was licking his face. He tried to move back in disgust but the hand in his hair kept him from moving, so he just squeezed his eyes shut tightly as the tongue ran over it.

It was just one slow lick and then it was gone, his hair was released and he dragged himself back across the floor, as far away from this man as he could until his back hit wall. The footsteps moved back up the stairs and out through the door.

Before the light disappeared again though, Hiroki saw a pair of legs that must have belonged to that woman. They weren't moving. He waited a moment after hearing the door lock to make sure the man was really gone before shuffling over to where the woman was. The shackles tugged on him but he could just reach.

“Oi!” he nudged where he thought her shoulder was but got no reply. “Oi! Wake-up!” he said a little louder now. He was really scared now. This maniac was a murderer! He was tied up in a murderer’s basement with no way of escaping. If this woman was dead...

He moved his hand up her shoulder to try and tap her face, but when he got to her neck; there was just a hole. The flesh had been torn from her throat and all that was left was a gaping hole, still slowly oozing hot thick liquid. He ripped his hand away as if it had burned him but a hand reached up and grabbed his wrist. He panicked and lashed out. He felt his foot make contact with something and the hand let go of him. He scrambled to his feet and ran back to the other side of the room. He heard a wet choking sound and more gurgling, before scraping as the woman began to crawl towards him. It was like a scene from a zombie movie, made even more terrifying by the fact that he couldn't see anything, including the woman, he could only hear her desperate gargling and crawling towards him, as well as the sound of his own heavy breathing.

* * *

Suddenly, she went quiet. Hiroki pressed himself deeper into the wall, his eyes wide but seeing nothing. He shuffled sideways slightly until he reached a corner and he stayed there.  
Nowaki was starting to get worried. Even if Hiro-san had been working late, he should have gotten home hours ago. The food had gone cold so he had just put it in the fridge for when Hiro-san got home, but he was still waiting up for him. He had called Hiro-san's mobile but it had been turned off, and he hadn't had a reply when he had called the office. He was probably just on his way home, but if he wasn't back soon Nowaki was going to go to the office and drag him home. It was probably that Miyagi bastard! He always made his Hiro-san stay late...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nowaki goes looking for Hiroki and some detectives with some very silly names (seriously I don't know what I was thinking) are called.

Nowaki jolted awake and looked at the time. 5:33 in the morning. He realised he was still on the sofa and realised that he had fallen asleep waiting for Hiro-san.

He was slightly disappointed that Hiro-san hadn't woken him up so that they could sleep together in the bed, or even covered him up with a blanket if he hadn't wanted to wake him.

He rubbed his eyes sleepily and made his way to their bedroom, he could get in an hour with Hiro-san at least before they both had to go to work.

When Nowaki opened the door and saw the bed made and empty, he realised that Hiro-san had still not come home. At half past five in the morning? There was no way he was working this late. Derp. Maybe he had ended up spending the night at the office, it was possible, he had done it one time before... or maybe it was that Miyagi bastard. He was always molesting his Hiro-san and taking him out and getting him drunk.

He pulled out his mobile and tried calling Hiro-san again, but there was no reply.

Nowaki grabbed his coat put on his shoes and set off to the university, if he was right about Miyagi he was going to be so angry.

* * *

When he reached the university Hiroki noticed Miyagi's bright red car in the car park. So he was here.

He walked through the corridors towards where he knew the literature department was. He turned a corner sharply and ran into someone. He looked up and realised that it was Miyagi!

“You!” he yelled.

“What?!” Miyagi yelled back with equal volume, then at a more normal level, “Why are you yelling at me? Wait, your Hiroki's long time stalker right?”

“Is Hiro-san here?” Nowaki asked bluntly, growing impatient.

“What? I don't know, I just got here.” He gestured to the cup of coffee he was holding and the briefcase hanging off his arm. “Didn't he get home yet?”

“No he didn't get home yet! Why else would I be here at six in the morning? Now where is he?”

“Hey, look, we both stayed late last night to catch up with some marking, which is why I'm here so early this morning. I left before Hiroki and you know what he's like for working too hard, he probably fell asleep at his desk.”

Miyagi started towards the literature department again and Nowaki followed behind him, all the while glaring at the back of his head.

Miyagi opened the door to the office and Nowaki was disappointed to find that Hiroki as not there, he was getting very worried now. His worry grew when he looked closer and noticed that a chair had been turned over, and there were papers strew across the floor behind the desk.

He saw the surprise on Miyagi's face before it turned to confusion then slight worry.

Nowaki pulled out his phone again and tried to call Hiroki once more, and froze when he heard a phone ringing in the corner of the room behind him. He turned around and saw Hiroki's coat on the hook by the door, and his briefcase still by his desk.

Miyagi frowned deeply and lit a cigarette, before reaching for the phone on his desk and calling the police.

Nowaki heard none of the conversation, he was too busy panicking. 'What is something really had happened to Hiro-san? Something serious?' He was always worrying about his lover, but for something like this to actually happen was...

“Yes, thank you.” Miyagi hung up the phone and sat down at his desk, with his head in his hands.

Fifteen minutes later, the police arrived. No one else was here yet, it was still too early, but the Dean had been informed and was on his way in.

There were just two police officers.

“Good morning, I'm officer Suzuki and this is officer Sasaki” the taller of the two introduced them both. “You called because you think someone's missing?” Suzuki took out a note-pad ready to take statements and Sasaki walked over to the desk where the papers had been disturbed.

“Erm, yes officer,” Nowaki said urgently, turning his full attention back to Suzuki, my, ah, roommate, Kamijou Hiroki, he never came home last night. I came here to look for him and I found the room like this! Please, I think someone must have taken him!”

“Kamijou would never leave the office like this,” added Miyagi worriedly, “I think something could have happened...”

Suzuki took down what they said in note form, asking them a few more questions and taking their statements. He interviewed them for not more than a minute before:

“Suzuki!” Sasaki called urgently. Nowaki whipped round, he had almost forgotten that he was there.

Suzuki walked over to where he was and looked at what he was pointing at. Nowaki and Miyagi saw his eyes widen before he reached up to his radio. “This is Suzuki, responding to a missing persons call at M university. We've got another one. We're gonna need a full forensics team and the homicide squad down here right now.”

Nowaki felt his heart stop at the mention of the homicide squad. He strode over to the desk to look at what they had seen but didn't get a chance before Sasaki blocked his way. “I'm sorry sir but I can't let you touch anything. His is an open crime scene now.”

“You said homicide squad! You think he's dead don't you!” He yelled, panicked at Sasaki.

“Sir, we aren't assuming anything but we really can't tell you anything else. When our superiors get here they might be able to fill you in a bit more, but I'm afraid you'll just have to be patient.”

* * *

They didn't have to wait long before they heard sirens approaching outside. Within minutes the detectives arrived at the office along with a team of around six others in white plastic suits holding cases.

They immediately began dusting for prints taking pictures and searching for anything relevant that could be evidence. Nowaki and Sazuki merely stood in the corner and watched as the people flooded in.

Miyagi had left to meet the Dean and explain what was going on, as far as he knew anyway...

The ones whom he had assumed were the homicide detectives just breezed past him and Suzuki as Sasaki lead them over to the desk and showed them whatever it was that had shocked them so much before.

He perked up when he saw Sasaki point in their direction and the two detectives walked over to them.

“Kusama-san was it?” he continued when they nodded, “I'm going to need to ask you a few questions,-”

“Please tell me!” Nowaki interrupted desperately, “What has happened to Hiro-san! I know you know something!”

The detectives shared a look before turning back to Nowaki. “You're not just his room-mate are you?” one of them asked carefully.

“No. Please I love Hiro-san very much, I would die if something happened to him!”

The detective who had spoken looked away sadly and the other stepped forward slightly and looked Nowaki in the eye.

“I think you'd better see this.” He led Nowaki over to Hiroki's desk and the forensics guy there moved aside to make way. He pointed to something that had been scratched into the wood. It was a sort of downward spike with a crescent moon curved over it, like an exaggerated 'T', with another small crescent on the top.

“I-I don't understand,” Nowaki said uncertainly.

“I shouldn't really be telling you about this, but you've heard on the news about a sudden string of murders that's lasted over the last few months?” he continued when Nowaki nodded slowly, his eyes growing more and more wary. “We've denied it to the press but they are related. We think it's the worst serial killer in Tokyo's history. He's taken eleven victims already and each one was found a few days later, pretty messed up and with... with this symbol carved into their skin.” He looked down when his partner scowled at him for not finding a gentler word than carved.

“N-no... NO!” Nowaki yelled at them, getting the attention of most everybody in the room.

He looked at them, from one to the other, hoping that they would tell him that this was all some sick joke and that he was probably fine, but they didn't.

“No...” He repeated, before running out of the office and all the way home, not stopping when they called his name, even when he narrowly avoided being hit by a car. All he could think about was Hiro-san, hurt or killed in some hideous way. He got home and managed to put the key in the lock despite his trembling hands. He closed the door behind him, slid down it and began to cry, screaming inside his own head. “Hiro-san...” he sobbed, dropping head head into his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For never was there a tale of more woe, that that of The Band That Played California Lady.
> 
> In many ways... rat is an underrated meat...


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A time skip and still no hope in sight.

3 Months later... yes, 3 months later.

Nowaki walked through the ward like a zombie, slowly checking the charts and machines, making sure that everything was okay and all the children were healthy, but he wasn't really there. All he could think about was Hiro-san.

He had been gone for three months and no-one knew where he was. He hadn't heard from the detectives in about two months. Last time he had seen them they had told him sadly that he should be prepared to accept that Hiroki was gone. The man had taken 11 people before Hiroki and another every week since. None of them had survived and the reality was that he was probably dead.

He had been on the news as a missing man but the reporters had hinted strongly at the possibility of a serial killer. Every week the latest disappearance made the news. It made it impossible to go a day without thinking about it.

Three months, three months without Hiro-san, without knowing whether he was alive or dead... They had said though, that the circumstances were unusual. Usually the victims had been taken off the street, and found within the next few days. There had been no sign of Hiro-san, alive or dead. He wasn't sure whether that was a good sign or not. Also the symbol. It clearly connected the cases... didn't it? But the other victims had all had it carved it into their skin, not scratched out where they had been abducted. Then again, if they were taken off the street would they have even known where to look...?

“You look terrible again today,” Tsumori-sempai's voice interrupted his thoughts, and he noticed that he was surrounded by children. Tsumori-sempai and the children on the ward had been constantly trying to cheer him up, without success. He stretched out a forced smile at them though, he didn't want to drag their mood down with him. They had their own problems and he didn't want to force his own on them. Especially the children. “Why am I not surprised?”

Tsumori-sempai grabbed his arm and led him into their office so that the children would not hear them. “Nowaki are you alright? You've had dark circles under your eyes for months you've lost weight and you look so depressed! If you're sick I can get you time off work, as long as you need?”

He looked at him concernedly. “No Tsumori-sempai, that won't be necessary. Work is the only thing keeping me together at the moment, anything to take my mind off of Hiro-san...”

“Nowaki...” Tsumori looked at him sadly and sat down in front of him, resting his hand on his shoulder. “Nowaki, I know you love Hiroki but he's been gone for three months, and with all te murders lately, I think you need to accept the reality that he's probably dead. It's been three months! It's not as if you just gave up straight away but considering the circumstances I think it's time you focused on your own life and started to move on. You can't keep on like this! It's killing you!”

Nowaki just stayed sat there, looking at the floor, his eyes darkened by his hair, his expression dark. He didn't move an inch. After a minute Tsumori stood up to leave. He obviously wanted to be left alone.

Just as he reached for the doorknob, he heard Nowaki's voice behind him. It too was dark.

“They never found a body sempai... And I won't let him go until they do.”

'Probably not even then...' thought Tsumori sadly.

* * *

Hiroki sat still in the dark. His entire body ached and besides, he didn't have the energy to move even if he wanted to.

He wasn't sure exactly how long he'd been there. He couldn't count the days as there was never any light in here, natural or otherwise. They all just blended together. It felt like it had been a year, but realistically it had probably been around a couple of months maybe. It was such a long time, he wondered if they were even still looking for him, if they had just given him up for dead...

He wondered more if Nowaki had given up...

The thought of Nowaki was the only thing that had kept him sane as he sat there for months on end, dirty, freezing cold, starving... waiting to die.

All he could do was try to concentrate on Nowaki and think of happier times, trying to ignore the sounds of the sobbing teenager somewhere in the darkness. It wasn't like he could help her, he couldn't even help himself. The again why would he be able to help her? He couldn't help any of the others...

* * *

A few days later with Nowaki:

He watched the news with dead eyes. They had found another body, a teenage girl this time. There didn't seem to be any pattern to the victims, one of the reasons that the press still couldn't say for definite that it was a serial killer without the extra evidence that the police had. All of them seemed to have been taken seemingly at random. Simply because they were vulnerable, or available at the time. Most of them had been taken while walking home at night. Men, women, young, old, it didn't seem to matter.

Nowaki was starting to lose hope that they would ever find Hiro-san, in any state. He was actually starting to hope that Hiro-san had just got bored of him, and left, if it would mean that he was okay.

On the other hand, maybe he was already dead and they just hadn't found the body yet... How else could he explain that he hadn't come home?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg... anyone else think I'm addicted to elipses? I think maybe I'm a JRPG in human form...


End file.
